Joanne Peters

Joanne "Joey" Peters

Playing for the Newcastle Jets, 2008
Personal information
Full name	Joanne Elsa Peters [1]
Date of birth	(1979-03-11) 11 March 1979 (age 46)
Place of birth	Leeton, New South Wales, Australia
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 7+1⁄2 in)
Position(s)	Central midfielder
Youth career
	Leeton United
	Sylvania Heights
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
	Northern NSW Pride
1999–2002	NSW Sapphires
2002	Charlotte Lady Eagles
2002	Santos
2003	New York Power
2005	KIF Örebro DFF
	Sydney United
	Sydney Olympic
2008	Newcastle Jets	11	(1)
International career‡
1996–2009	Australia	110	(28)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 9 March 2009 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 9 March 2009

Joanne "Joey" Elsa Peters (born 11 March 1979) is an Australian former soccer player who last played for the Newcastle Jets in the Australian W-League. ^[2] She played for Brazilian club, Santos (2002), becoming the first Australian woman to play professional football in South America. Peters also was one of the first Australians to represent a team in the Women's United Soccer Association in 2003, when she joined New York Power. Internationally she represented Australia as a central midfielder for the Matildas from March 1996 to February 2009 for 110 games and scored 28 goals. ^[3]

Biography

Early years

Joanne "Joey" Elsa Peters was born on 11 March 1979 in Leeton, New South Wales. ^[4] Her father is a Uniting Church minister. ^[4] From five years old she played football in a boys team, following her older brother. ^[4] Peters captained Leeton Public School's team, which won the 1990 New South Wales Primary Schools Girls knockout tournament. ^{[4] [5]} Her first club, Leeton United Juniors, played in the Griffith District Football Association. ^{[4] [5]} As a teenager, the family moved to Sydney, where her father was reassigned. ^[4]

Club career

After attending the Australian Institute of Sport and the NSW Institute of Sport (1997), ^{[4] [6]} Peters was signed by Northern NSW Pride in the Australian Women's National Soccer League (WNSL). ^[7] She played for NSW Sapphires from 1999 and won the Julie Dolan Medal for the best player in the WNSL for the 2001/2002 season. ^{[6] [8]} From August to December 2002 she had a stint with Brazilian club Santos, becoming the first Australian woman to play professional football in South America. ^{[3] [4]} She signed with the New York Power in the Women's United Soccer Association in February 2003. ^[9]

Peters last played with the Newcastle Jets in the Australian W-League's inaugural year, 2008–2009. ^{[10] [11]}

International career

Peters made her debut for Australia in March 1996 in a friendly against New Zealand in Auckland, where she scored her first goal for the Matildas in their 0-3 victory over the hosts. ^{[4] [12]} At the 1998 OFC Women's Championship, held in Auckland in October, the midfielder kicked four goals in Australia's 17-0 victory over Fiji. ^[13] For the 2003 OFC Women's Championship she scored another four goals in a game against Samoa (19-0) held in Canberra in April 2003. ^[14]

She played her last international football match in February 2009 against Italy in Canberra. She had played 110 times for the Australian team, scoring 28 times. ^{[3] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]} The retiring Matilda had attended three Women's World Cups (1999, 2003, 2007) and one Olympic Games (2004). ^[20] Peters recalled her fondest international memories, "Personally, scoring a goal in the Athens Olympics against the USA, that drew the game and that's the best result we've had with them. We were playing the Dream Team, if you like. They had the world’s best player, Mia Hamm, and it was their last tournament with that team. From a team perspective, the last World Cup was a definite highlight." ^[5]

International goals

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	24 March 1996	Ken Maunder Park, Auckland, New Zealand	New Zealand	2–0	3-0	Friendly [12]
2.	9 October 1998	Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand	American Samoa	15-0	21-0	OFC Championship and World Cup qualifier [13]
3.	15 October 1998		Fiji	10-0	17-0
4.				11-0
5.				13-0
6.				16-0
7.	16 January 2002	Lavington Sports Ground, Albury, Australia	South Korea	1–0	1–0	Australia Cup [21]
8.	6 October 2002	SAS Stadium, Cary, United States	Russia	2–0	2–0	Women's U.S. Cup [21]
9.	5 April 2003	McKellar Park, Canberra, Australia	Samoa	1–0	19–0	OFC Women's Championship, World Cup qualifier [14]
10.				4-0
11.				8-0
12.				17-0
13.	9 April 2003		Papua New Guinea	2–0	13–0
14.	13 April 2003		New Zealand	1–0	2–0
15.	4 March 2004	Govind Park, Ba, Fiji	Papua New Guinea	7–0	10–0	Olympic Qualifiers [22]
16.	17 August 2004	Kaftanzoglio Stadium, Thessaloniki, Greece	United States	1–1	1–1	Olympic Games [22]
17.	29 March 2005	Seymour Shaw Park, Sydney, Australia	Japan	1–0	2–1	Friendly [23]
18.	16 July 2005	Minyuan Stadium, Tianjin, China	China	2–1	2–1	Friendly [23]
19.	23 July 2005	Tokyo, Japan	Japan	2–0	2–4	Friendly [23]
20.	28 November 2005	Mingara Recreation Club, Central Coast, Australia	China	1–0	3–1	Friendly [24] [25]
21.	28 May 2006	Lakeside Stadium, Melbourne, Australia	Mexico	2–0	3–0	Friendly [26]
22.	27 July 2006	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide, Australia	Japan	2–0	2–0	2006 AFC Women's Asian Cup [26]
23.	30 July 2006		China	2–0	2–2 ( a.e.t. ) (2–4 p) [26]
24.	25 February 2007	Zhongshan Soccer Stadium, Taipei, Taiwan	Chinese Taipei	6–1	8–1	2008 Summer Olympics qualification
25.	7 April 2007	BCU International Stadium, Coffs Harbour, Australia	Hong Kong	5–0	15–0
26.	15 April 2007	Zhongshan Soccer Stadium, Taipei, Taiwan	Chinese Taipei	6–0	10–0
27.				8–0
28.	12 August 2007	BCU International Stadium, Coffs Harbour, Australia	Chinese Taipei	5–0	7–0

Coaching career

In 2009 Peters was a coach with the Australian under-16 women's national team. ^[27]

Honours

• Julie Dolan Medal : WNSL 2001/2002. ^[6]
• Australian Women's Footballer of the Year: 2009 ^[28]
• Football Australia Hall of Fame inductee: 2010 ^[29]

References

1. "FIFA Women's World Cup China 2007 – List of Players: Australia" (PDF). FIFA. 15 September 2007. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
2. "Australian Women's Football". Archived from the original on 16 December 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2009.
3. "Matildas veteran Joanne Peters to retire". The Sydney Morning Herald . 4 February 2009. Archived from the original on 3 June 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
4. "Joanne Peters". ausport.gov.au. 14 April 2003. Archived from the original on 8 September 2003. Retrieved 17 May 2025– via National Library of Australia.
5. Lang, Josh (24 February 2009). "Our Matilda waltzes off - Local News - Sport - Football - Soccer". The Irrigator . Archived from the original on 29 September 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2025– via National Library of Australia.
6. ESPN Staff (3 September 2003). "Joanne Peters Bio". ESPN FC. Archived from the original on 5 May 2016. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
7. "Joanne Peters". MyFootball. 27 May 2014. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2025– via National Library of Australia.
8. Howe, Andrew (28 December 2020). "Women's National Soccer League Honour Roll". Official Westfield W-League 2020/21 Season Guide (PDF). Australian Professional League. p. 132 – via Andrew Howe.
9. "Power adds two Australian players". Sports Illustrated. 26 February 2003. Archived from the original on 26 October 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
10. "Joanne Peters: Full match listing" (PDF). Football Federation Australia. Womensport Queensland. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 September 2009. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
11. "Joanne Peters Bio". ESPN Soccernet. Women's World Cup 2003. Archived from the original on 2 January 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
12. Darby, Steve; Esamie, Thomas; Stock, Greg. "Matildas 1996 Matches". ozfootball.net. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
13. Darby, Steve; Esamie, Thomas; Stock, Greg. "Matildas 1998 Matches". ozfootball.net. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
14. Esamie, Thomas. "Matildas 2003 Matches". ozfootball.net. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
15. "Matildas smashed by red-hot Italy". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 11 November 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
16. "FIFA Century Club" (PDF). FIFA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 November 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
17. "2009 Sport Achievement Awards". Australian Institute of Sport. Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
18. "For the love of God and the game". Sydney Anglicans. 5 June 2006. Archived from the original on 7 January 2011. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
19. Lowe, David (3 February 2009). "David Lowe: Departing champions set standard". The Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
20. "FIFA Player Statistics: Joanne Peters". FIFA. Archived from the original on 4 October 2008. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
21. Esamie, Thomas. "Matildas 2002 Matches". ozfootball.net. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
22. Esamie, Thomas. "Matildas 2004 Matches". ozfootball.net. Retrieved 17 May 2025.
23. Esamie, Thomas. "Matildas 2005 Matches". ozfootball.net. Retrieved 17 May 2025.
24. "Joanne Peters" (PDF). womensportqld.com.au. 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 September 2009. Retrieved 20 May 2025.n.b. Incorrectly gives final score as 3-0 and venue as Gosford.
25. "Australia v China Report by FFA". 2005. Retrieved 28 May 2025– via ozfootball.net.
26. Esamie, Thomas. "Matildas 2006 Matches". ozfootball.net. Retrieved 17 May 2025.
27. "Project Future's Peters assists U-16s". AFC U-16 Women’s Championship 2009. The Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 11 May 2010.^{[ dead link ]}
28. "Schwarzer scoops Aussie award". FIFA. 11 June 2009. Archived from the original on 22 May 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
29. "Football Australia Hall of Fame 2024 nominations open". Football Australia. 3 May 2024. Archived from the original on 16 July 2024. Retrieved 17 May 2025– via National Library of Australia.